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Sarasota News Leader November 9, 2012 derway to determine whether the firm was overpaid. The firm's contract with the county was termi- nated in early May, after its employees stopped mowing county roadsides, with company of- ficials saying they could not handle the scope of work under the contract for the amount of money they had bid. A LONG HISTORY Barbetta pointed out that the mowing prob- lems had been going on for four or five years. "There is just a level of borderline arrogant in- competence on the part of some county staff members," he added. "I hate to say it. I hate Page 37 to use that term, but that's what I feel. I know our job as commissioners is not to microman- age, and we try not to do that." Commissioner Carolyn Mason asked Reid "to let staff know that we as elected officials … work for the citizens in this county. They are our employers, and they deserve a lot better than what has been coming out of this mow- ing contract." Barbetta added, "I'm really concerned about the morale … in the Public Works Depart- ment," which he characterized as "not healthy." When mowing contractors who had been in business for years had tried to report prob- A table in the report on the audit conducted by the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court shows an analysis of invoices from Bloomings. The report notes that the table "excludes any amounts that should be assessed against the Contractor for reporting failures and re-inspection fees." Table cour- tesy Sarasota County